Afghanistan crisis live updates: India allowed to operate two flights daily to evacuate citizens from Kabul

"The Taliban movement control almost the entire territory of the country," he told a televised press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Kremlin. "These are the realities and it is from these realities that we must proceed, preventing the collapse of the Afghan state," he added. Putin also criticised the "irresponsible policy" of imposing "outside values" on war-torn Afghanistan.

the Taliban lack access to billions of dollars from their central bank and the International Monetary Fund that would keep the country running during a turbulent shakeup. Those funds are largely controlled by the U.S. and international institutions, a possible leverage point as tense evacuations proceed from the airport in the capital of Kabul.

Netherlands said his country is working closely with Germany and Britain on evacuations, but getting evacuees to Kabul airport is an uncertain process due to Taliban checkpoints, adding that there are more than 700 Dutch nationals in Afghanistan who still remain to be evacuated.

NATO's priority is to get people out of Kabul and keep the airport running, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday as the alliance's foreign ministers met for a virtual crisis meeting to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Biden is set to meet with his national security team about the evacuations, and to speak from the White House Friday afternoon. In addition to criticism from some lawmakers who say the U.S. failed to adequately plan for the Taliban's swift takeover, U.S. diplomats have voiced dissent.

"I am well and alive and after a couple of unforgettable nights, I have reached Doha, Qatar and am awaiting my eventual flight back home to Istanbul," Sayeed told her 1.3 million Instagram followers. Sayeed, 36, who had recently starred as a judge on a singing competition show on Afghan television, told reporters she left via US cargo jet, reported New York Post.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato on Friday said that the country is not considering to recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government in Afghanistan. He said that Japan will make the necessary decision based on national interests and in cooperation with other countries involved, including the US. Earlier, Japan has evacuated staff and nationals from its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took control over the national capital.

In a Friday statement, the White House said multiple C-17 flights from Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport evacuated nearly 350 US citizens, as well as family members of US citizens, asylum applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans. "We have evacuated approximately 9,000 people since August 14. Since the end of July, we have evacuated approximately 14,000 people," it said.

An Afghan official familiar with talks with the Taliban says the group does not plan to make any decisions or announcements about the upcoming government until after the Aug. 31 U.S. withdrawal date passes. Taliban lead negotiator Anas Haqqani has told ex-government interlocuters that the insurgent movement has a deal with the U.S. "to do nothing'' until after the final withdrawal date passes, he said.

The Panjshir Valley north of Afghanistan's capital Kabul is the final major centre of resistance to the Taliban, but analysts say the fighters gathered there will struggle if the Islamist hardliners launch a full-scale attack. Right now, it is the only part of the country confirmed to be beyond Taliban control. "The resistance for the moment is just verbal because the Taliban have not yet tried to enter the Panjshir," said Afghan specialist Gilles Dorronsoro from Sorbonne University in Paris.

Taliban fighters tortured and killed members of an ethnic minority in Afghanistan after recently overrunning their village, Amnesty International said. The rights group said that its researchers spoke to eyewitnesses in Ghazni province who recounted how the Taliban killed nine Hazara men in the village of Mundarakht on July 4-6. It said six of the men were shot, and three were tortured to death.

Germany will send two light helicopters to Kabul to evacuate Germans at risk or situated in remote regions, a defence ministry's spokesperson in Berlin said on Friday. German special forces use this kind of light helicopters and are specially trained to evacuate citizens in crisis situations.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said his country is determined to play a "positive role" in Afghanistan as he appealed to the Taliban insurgents and former rulers of the war-ravaged country to formulate an all-inclusive political government after mutual consultations. Qureshi said that nobody is ready to face bloodshed in Afghanistan and people are looking for peace and stability in the country.

There are reports that local Taliban leaders are inspecting consulates of various countries located in Kandahar, Herat, Mazhar-e-Sharif and several other cities.